This invention relates to a vehicle occupant safety restraint for the passenger side and in particular relates to an airbag module capable of deploying two separate airbags.
Vehicle inflatable restraints or airbags are deployed in car accidents to help reduce injuries sustained to the occupants. The airbags are stored in an airbag module installed in various parts of the vehicle, such as within the steering wheel or behind the instrument panel. In addition to the airbag module housing an airbag, it also houses an inflator which provides gas for inflating the airbag. When the vehicle undergoes rapid deceleration, as occurs during a head on collision, the airbag rapidly inflates due to the introduction of an inflation gas into the airbag interior.
Traditionally, airbags were designed to protect the 50th percentile man who was not out of position. An out of position occupant is one that is not sitting properly in his/her seat, for example, the occupant is leaning toward the front of the car, the occupant has a limb near or touching the instrument panel, etc. Since airbags are aggressively filled, an out of position occupant, an unrestrained occupant, or a child may be injured by contacting the airbag while it is being inflated. There has been much effort in developing a smart airbag system that can detect the size and position of an occupant. These smart airbag systems often require sophisticated airbag designs that has multiple compartments and tethers.
The present invention aims to provide an airbag design that is cheaper and lighter while still having the ability to protect children and out of position occupants.
An airbag module having one or more inflators, a first airbag, and a second airbag. The first airbag has substantially a xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d cross section in its deployed state. The second airbag is attached to the first airbag by stitching. Three different deployment scenarios are contemplated by the present invention. The first deployment scenario is the deployment of only the first airbag. The second deployment scenario is the deployment of only the second airbag. The last deployment scenario is the deployment of the first and second airbags.